


Meeting Martin

by Cueyatl



Series: Soulmates AUs Collection (Multiple Fandoms) [3]
Category: The Mortal Instruments Series - Cassandra Clare
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M, Misunderstandings, Prejudice, Soulmates, Soulmates Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-05
Updated: 2016-12-05
Packaged: 2018-09-06 16:45:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8761006
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cueyatl/pseuds/Cueyatl
Summary: Magnus Bane is in no hurry to meet his Soulmate (A Nephilim! A Shadowhuner! A Lightwood for God's sake!). When he finally does, he has the sudden hope that maybe, his soulmate is not like the others. He seems to be right, at first, but then Alexander keeps acting like they're not Soulmates...[Soulmate AU - Everyone has the name of their Soulmate written somewhere on their skin since birth.]





	

**Author's Note:**

> Soulmates AU #3
> 
> Fandom: The Mortal Instruments
> 
> Pairing: Magnus Bane/Alexander Lightwood (Malec)
> 
> Type of Soulmates Universe: Everyone has the name of their Soulmate written somewhere on their skin since their birth.
> 
> This is not based on the TV show "Shadowhunter" for a reason I will only explain in End Notes, in order not to spoil the fic. 
> 
> As always, all critics are welcomed, including (and I'd even say, especially) about orthograph and grammar.

For someone who liked to act like he didn’t care about his soulmate at all, Magnus sure talked about him a lot. Talked, ranted, complained, made elaborate plans to avoid, dismissed, hated, criticized… There had been many evenings around a bottle of wine with Ragnor, listing what was wrong with his soulmate for hours. And he didn’t even know the guy yet!

Magnus hadn’t always hated his soulmate. At first, he had thought nothing of them. It was just a scribble on his skin, a bit of ink behind his right knee. Magnus had always thought it was a good spot for the name, because it was _long_. Here, it was well hidden.

It also meant he had had to ask someone to read it for him. He had no mirror in his youth. But no one could. It was not written in Indonesian. It was not even written in the language of the strangers that had come to his part of the country; Dutch. But one of his friends thought there was some resemblance between the Dutch writing and this writing.

Once he had learnt Dutch himself – his “father” had been Dutch after all, and Magnus had been raised in a strange mix of Holland and Indonesia – he had agreed. But he still could not decipher it. Of course, back then he had had bigger problems than trying to find his soulmate.

Hiding in Spain, he had learnt Spanish. Visiting France, he had learnt French. Traveling to England, he had learnt English. Yet, his soulmate had remained a mystery. It wasn’t until being able to write had become truly common, and that handwriting had diversified itself more that Magnus had understood his soulmate’s name was an untidy English scrawl.

At first, he had read it ‘Alicsondir Liqhtuvaool’ – names had evolved a lot since he was born, but even he thought it very improbable; then ‘Alecsonder Liqhtwaod’ before finally realizing it was probably a form of ‘Alexander’ (Maybe Alecsander? Who knew how the future would write that name…) and Lightwood.

Which brought him to the second thing he already hated about his soulmate: Nephilim. No, not just Nephilim - _Shadowhunter_. If he had had any say in this whole Destiny thing, Magnus would not have chosen a conceited violent self-important prejudiced selfish condescending ungrateful idiot with a high chance of dying young. Sometimes, when he was feeling a bit merciful towards his not-yet-born soulmate, he did concede there was a chance he wasn’t like this. But then he remembered his soulmate wasn’t just a shadowhunter, he was a _Lightwood_.

Finally, there was _how late_ his soulmate was, how long he was making Magnus wait. His friend Ragnor, who usually liked to have a reason to complain about Nephilims, had drawn the line there.

“That’s really not his fault, Magnus,” he had said. “Whether it’s before or after, there’s gonna be an awfully long time to spend without him anyway. He’s mortal, after all. Honestly? It’s better this way. I’d rather fool around carelessly a few centuries, enjoy myself and trying things, than get a soulmate early and spend those centuries crying about how everything reminds you of him.”

“Why would I cry? He’s going to be an asshole,” Magnus had replied for the sake of argument but agreeing nonetheless.

So Magnus had waited for his soulmate to come with dread while sleeping with everyone that caught his fancy. When he was finally bonded forever with that egocentric jerk, he could at least remember him regularly that he was not the first, and therefore was not so special (something he would later regret, but that is how the Future works).

Meeting Alexander had been a rollercoaster of expectations and disappointments. 

They had come to the party he had organized for his cat – who, little ungrateful ball of fur that he was, had run away. Five of them; four Nephilim and a Mundane. That had raised all kinds of red flags in Magnus Bane. Four Nephilim was bad news – accompanied by a Mundane, they might as well be holding a sign with “TROUBLE” written on it. 

The girl who seemed to be leading the group in their wild excursion was dressed like a typical party girl. Magnus had to hand it to her, she definitely looked the part. She was waving an invitation in his face enthusiastically. How she had obtained it, Magnus had no idea, but it meant that he couldn’t exactly refuse them entry, as he had first thought of doing. 

Realizing he would indeed have to deal with them, he paid them more attention. The Mundane was forgettable. The only unusual thing about him was that he was obviously new to their world. The party girl – Isabelle – was just that: a party girl. The blond guy was obviously the leader and a typical shadowhunter: vain, self-absorbed, bloodthirsty and privileged, expecting the world to bend to his biding while brooding over his difficult life and whining loudly about it. The redhead was the one that made him have a heart attack.

Clary Fray. Clarissa Fairchild. (Magnus vaguely wondered what name she preferred. Would she rather have her “inheritance name” or the name she had grew up with? He wouldn’t blame her if she preferred the second. Himself had not always been Magnus Bane, after all, since most Warlocks were named by the Silent Brothers. For twenty meaningless years he had had a Mundane name – not that it mattered, his name would always be Magnus Bane.) Why was she here, and clearly aware of her true heritage? 

The last one was probably the babysitter of the group, here to make sure the mission went smoothly and no one got hurt. He was tall, and quite pretty – Magnus had a bit of déjà-vu, but then, when you were his age, it was hard to see something brand new. He dismissed Blue-Eyes at first, having more urging matters to attend to.

But then he let the group enter the party and Blue-Eyes walked past him. There was like a pull from the universe. Something in his stomach that made him nervous and excited at the same time. Magnus wanted to hug him and never let go.

The shadowhunter was looking just as surprised as he was.

_The Nephilims in charge of the New York Institute are Lightwoods_ , the logical side of his brain whispered to him excitedly. Was that him then? It had to be. Obviously. This was Alexander Lightwood. What should he say? And for that matter, why hadn’t the Nephilim said anything?

Alexander knew he was going to meet his soulmate after all. He knew he was going to meet ‘Magnus Bane’ by coming to his party, so why hadn’t he prepared something? Why was he gaping like a glorified fish? Unlike Magnus, who was taken by surprise, Alexander had had time to think about this. It’s not like he could have ignored that ‘Magnus Bane’, the name written on him somewhere, was the High Warlock of Brooklyn. Magnus could understand not coming to see him sooner: Alexander was clearly young – barely eighteen – so meeting his soulmate who was an immortal being was probably not easy. But why was he pretending to not know?

Things got even more complicated after that, even if you put aside the whole Clary-Valentine mess. Alexander was clearly interested, clearly feeling the same pull; but Alexander pretended it wasn’t there. Which meant he was just as Magnus had imagined him to be: condescending, thinking he was better than Magnus and deserved someone who wasn’t a downworlder as his soulmate. But then he was shy, kind, compassionate, polite with Magnus – like has was a respectable source of authority ought to be respected as such. 

So which one was he? On all subjects, Alexander Lightwood was a perfectly respectable young man, exactly what Magnus had secretly hoped he would be. But he didn’t want Magnus to be his soulmate. 

It was maddening. 

The following weeks, Magnus tried and tried again, but Alexander always turned him down. Magnus, getting way past irritated, decided to end the whole charade and ask him directly.

“Why not?”

“Why not what?” Alexander asked, uncomfortable. He was sitting on Magnus’ couch, waiting for his friends to come back from the Seelie Court. 

“Why do you always say no? It’s obvious you want to say yes.”

“Listen I…” Alexander searched for the right words. “I… You’re right, I want to say yes. I really do, and I don’t know why. It’s like… I can’t think about anyone else; and… and you’re basically perfect, and I’d be _honored_! You’re confusing me because I’ve never felt anything like this but I… It’s going to sound very old-fashioned to you, but it’s important to me.”

“I won’t laugh,” Magnus assured him earnestly. 

“I’m waiting for my soulmate,” Alexander told him gravely. “I’ don’t plan on dating before him.”

It _was_ old fashioned. But that wasn’t what made Magnus gape. Waiting for his soulmate? But Magnus was his soulmate! In how much denial was this guy? Did he dislike downworlders so much? Magnus had thought he was a lot more open-minded – was he mistaken? Was Alexander the kind of person who tolerated strangers and inferiors as long as they were far away?

“Really,” Magnus said sarcastically. Alexander blushed.

“You said you wouldn’t laugh,” he muttered. 

“Oh, I’m not laughing, trust me,” Magnus told him acidly. “And who is this soulmate? Maybe I can help you find him.”

At that, Alexander looked hopeful.

“Really? You could do that? Isabelle said he might be Dutch. Do you know a lot of Dutch people?”

“Erm… I…” Magnus had not expected that reaction from Alexander. It looked so honest! Could it be Alexander was genuinely mistaken? Was his name also written in an unpractical location, making it hard to read? “Well, I’m a half-Dutch, you could say. Not by blood, mind you. What’s his name?”

“Martin,” Alexander told him, “Martin Beek.”

Magnus dropped his glass, and then almost died laughing. Alexander was now looking extremely perplexed.

“Does that mean you know him?”

“Yes,” Magnus tried to regain his composure, cleaning up the broken glass with a wave of his hand,” yes, you could say that. Don’t worry, I’m not laughing at you, darling. You’re not blame – it’s my entire fault, really. I did not think about that!”

He really should have figured it out. He should have guessed when he had heard that the name on Jace’s skin was Clary Fray. Not Clarissa Fairchild, Clary Fray. The name that had been given to her when she was born, regardless of her heritage. Because Fate, the Universe or whatever Being was in charge of this Destiny thing did not care about their stories and identity issues. The name on the skin was the name given at birth.

Destiny did not care that everyone wanted to call her Clarissa Fairchild. At birth, her mother had told the nurse ‘Clary Fray’, and Clary Fray it had been. Destiny did not care that the Silent Brother had changed his name to Magnus Bane. His mother had given him a Dutch name because his father (or the man they had thought to be his father) had been Dutch, and at the time, only the father counted. Who cared that she was Indonesian? He was Dutch, so his son would be Dutch. His mother and “father” had said ‘Martin Beek’ and Martin Beek it had been for Destiny, Silent Brothers be damned.

Once all had been explained to him, Alexander was suddenly very eager to go on that date. Magnus thought it was adorable. He had asked Alexander to not mention his former name again, as he wanted to leave it behind. Of course, it would be impossible to ignore completely, since it was written on Alexander’s shoulder, but the Nephilim had accepted nonetheless. 

All was not well. There were so many problems were yet to come, Magnus knew. He had his issues, so did Alec, and there was the whole ageing/immortality thing. But at least now, they had the chance to try and address those problems.

**Author's Note:**

> Why "The Mortal Instruments" and not "Shadowhunter", despite the fact that I like the later better? Because It hasn't been said in "Shadowhunters" where Magnus is from and what his story is. Chances are it's the same, but I felt safer working on Mortal Instruments because of that.
> 
> How obvious is my so-called "plot twist"? I think maybe the part about Clary's name makes it a bit too obvious, but I'll lest you be the judge of that. After all, I knew about that twist the whole time, so it's hard to visualize correctly.


End file.
